The Advanced Dental Journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) code of conduct which will be followed should there be any suspicion of misbehavior or alleged fraud. If deemed necessary, the publisher will take one of the following actions including but not limited to: rejection if the manuscript is still under evaluation, publication of an erratum, a retraction if the article has already been published online. In case of erratum or retraction, the article will be maintained on the journal site and in the abstracting and indexing services as corrected or retracted and the reason will be given in the published erratum or retraction note.

Potential Misconduct

Examples of inappropriate acts include but are not limited to fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, repetitive publication, obfuscation of significant research results, violating requirements for experimentation with human subjects or animals, failing to comply with authorship requirements, failing to report significant conflicts of interest.

Disputed Authorship:

ADJ prefers for authors to resolve such matters amongst themselves, although that is not always possible.

 Should a complaint arise, the editor has to inform the corresponding author or the author about whom the complaint was made. Additionally, the author's institute or the place where the research took place may be contacted and informed of the received authorship complaint.  

Should the corresponding author accept the complaint, correction or retraction of the article are the normal procedures. However, If the corresponding author rejects the claims of the complainant, the editor will examine the explanations of both the corresponding author and the complainant. The disputed manuscript will be halted until all issues are resolved.

Changes in authorship or author order: 

A clear statement of the reason of addition or change should be submitted. Changes are sent to all the manuscript authors to consent this addition. If all the authors agree, then the manuscript will proceed to be published; if not, it will be suspended until the resolution of the issue.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism has many forms, it is committed when one author uses another work without permission, credit, or acknowledgment. The ADJ uses" iThenticate similarity check" to investigate plagiarism. Manuscripts with substantial plagiarism will be rejected with an opportunity to resubmit after proper corrections. Should there be minor copying of short phrases pointed out by reviewers, the authors will be contacted by the editor to rephrase these sentences.

Should such an issue arise after publication, the issue will be investigated. Clear plagiarism mandated contacting the corresponding author with evidence of plagiarism or any of the other authors if the corresponding author does not reply. Satisfactory explanation of the issue, rewording of the manuscript and informing the readers of this error are the main action courses. Unsatisfactory explanation or failure of the corresponding author to respond within 3-6 months, will result in article retraction and contact of the author's institution with the issued complaint.

Funding:

Uncrediting a funding agency in the acknowledgment section or disclosure statement will lead to the journal contacting the funding agency. Uncredited funding is against our review policy and will lead to retraction of the manuscript if no satisfactory explanation is offered by the corresponding author.

Concurrent Publication or Simultaneous Submission: 

Articles submitted for publication must be original and must not have been submitted to any other publication. Submitting the same paper to multiple journals will lead to the journal contacting the author's institution and filing a complaint. 

Fundamental errors:

Any significant error must be brought to the journal attention by the authors. Depending on the nature of the error, the journal will decide whether to publish a correction or a retraction.